Law Library of Congress - Global Legal Monitor: Global Legal Monitor: Germanyhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?home
The Global Legal Monitor is an online publication from the Law Library of Congress covering legal news and developments worldwide. It is updated frequently and draws on information from the Global Legal Information Network, official national legal publications, and reliable press sources. You can search previous news by searching the archive.en-usGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Asylum Procedure Act Amended to Restrict Applicants from Balkan Stateshttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205404240_text
Asylum; Immigration - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Fri, 19 Dec 2014 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205404240_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Prohibition of Support for the Islamic Statehttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205404184_text
Terrorism - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept.... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Fri, 31 Oct 2014 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205404184_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Ministry of the Interior Publishes Draft Cybersecurity Act http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205404116_text
Cybercrime - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Wed, 10 Sep 2014 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205404116_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Parliament Passes Law on Minimum Wagehttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205404092_text
Employee benefits; Labor; Wages and hours - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Fri, 08 Aug 2014 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205404092_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Disclosure of Sperm Donorhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403665_text
Right of privacy - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Tue, 13 Aug 2013 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403665_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Constitutional Court Rejects Petition for Declaratory Judgment Brought by the National Democratic Party http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403571_text
Constitution - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no.... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403571_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Minor Constitutional Flaws in Anti-Terrorist Database http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403573_text
Constitution - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403573_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Patients' Rights http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403569_text
Workers safety and health - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403569_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: East German Stasi Harassment of Emigres Revealed in Fileshttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403528_text
Human rights - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403528_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Regional Court Ruling Criminalizes Circumcision of Young Boyshttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403226_text
Crime and law enforcement - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure.... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Tue, 03 Jul 2012 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403226_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Right-Wing Extremist Database Proposedhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402978_text
Police power - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012),... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402978_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Tax Credit for Dividends (the Meilicke II Decision)http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402745_text
Taxation - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402745_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Post-Punishment Detentionhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402747_text
Crime and law enforcement; Criminal code - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402747_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Germany: Sexual Violence Trial Beginshttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402676_text
War crimes - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Tue, 17 May 2011 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402676_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Parliament Extends Life of Nuclear Power Plantshttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402400_text
Energy - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants.... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Mon, 29 Nov 2010 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402400_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Dawes and Young Plan Bonds Paid Offhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402337_text
Economics and Public Finance - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402337_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Legal Issues Concerning Islam Discussed at Jurists' Convention http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402316_text
Church and state relations - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402316_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Genetic Modification and Freedom of Speech http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402321_text
Freedom of speech - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402321_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Solar Energy Encouragements Reduced http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402227_text
Energy - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402227_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Tax Treatment of European Losseshttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402224_text
Taxation - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402224_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Equal Tax Treatment for Same-Sex Partnerships Requiredhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402211_text
Taxation - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402211_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Court Permits Embryo Screeninghttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402200_text
Workers safety and health - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1)... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402200_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Custody for Out-of-Wedlock Childrenhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402179_text
Families - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402179_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Landmark Euthanasia Rulinghttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402074_text
Death and dying - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402074_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Contributions to European Financial Stabilityhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402016_text
Economics and Public Finance - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402016_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Social Security Contributions http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401698_text
Employee benefits - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401698_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Constitutional Court Upholds Free Speech Restriction in Banning Public Support of Former Nazi Regimehttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401683_text
Freedom of speech - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401683_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Intelligence May Not Be Kept from Parliamenthttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401472_text
Executive power - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401472_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Law on "Bad Banks" Adopted to Help Clear Toxic Assetshttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401436_text
Banks and financial institutions - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401436_textGlobal Legal Monitor: European Union; Germany: Three Treaty Violations Allegedhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401414_text
International affairs - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401414_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Immigration Law Reform Eases Hiring of Highly Qualified Alienshttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401196_text
Immigration and nationality - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401196_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Inheritance Tax Reformhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401159_text
Taxation - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.]... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401159_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Constitutional Court Decision on Electronic Votinghttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401164_text
Elections and politics - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401164_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Bank Rescue Planhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540740_text
Banks and financial institutions - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540740_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Act Adopted to Improve Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rightshttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540629_text
Intellectual property - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540629_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Paternity Testinghttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540569_text
Families - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540569_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Biofuel Requirementshttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540427_text
Energy - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April On April 4, 2008, Sigmar Gabriel, the Federal Environmental Minister of Germany, withdrew a controversial draft regulation that contained strict sustainability criteria for biofuels and that would have increased the required percentage of biofuel in gasoline... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Fri, 02 May 2008 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540427_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Energy-Using Productshttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540428_text
Energy - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April On April 4, 2008, Sigmar Gabriel, the Federal Environmental Minister of Germany, withdrew a controversial draft regulation that contained strict sustainability criteria for biofuels and that would have increased the required percentage of biofuel in gasoline On February 27, 2008, the German Parliament enacted the Act Concerning Energy-Using Products (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 258), which transposes into German law the European Union's Eco-Design Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Fri, 02 May 2008 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540428_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Reform of Law on Insurance Contractshttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540341_text
Consumer protection - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April On April 4, 2008, Sigmar Gabriel, the Federal Environmental Minister of Germany, withdrew a controversial draft regulation that contained strict sustainability criteria for biofuels and that would have increased the required percentage of biofuel in gasoline On February 27, 2008, the German Parliament enacted the Act Concerning Energy-Using Products (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 258), which transposes into German law the European Union's Eco-Design Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and the A major reform of the German laws governing insurance contracts was enacted on November 23, 2007 (Gesetz zur Reform des Versicherungsvertragsrechts, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2631). It aims primarily at increasing consumer rights and providing more transparency... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540341_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Coal Mining Subsidieshttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540361_text
Energy - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April On April 4, 2008, Sigmar Gabriel, the Federal Environmental Minister of Germany, withdrew a controversial draft regulation that contained strict sustainability criteria for biofuels and that would have increased the required percentage of biofuel in gasoline On February 27, 2008, the German Parliament enacted the Act Concerning Energy-Using Products (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 258), which transposes into German law the European Union's Eco-Design Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and the A major reform of the German laws governing insurance contracts was enacted on November 23, 2007 (Gesetz zur Reform des Versicherungsvertragsrechts, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2631). It aims primarily at increasing consumer rights and providing more transparency On December 12, 2007, the President of Germany promulgated the Act to Finance the Termination of Subsidized Coal Mining by 2018 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3086). The Act is the result of an agreement between the German... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540361_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Earth Observation Satelliteshttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540266_text
Communications - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April On April 4, 2008, Sigmar Gabriel, the Federal Environmental Minister of Germany, withdrew a controversial draft regulation that contained strict sustainability criteria for biofuels and that would have increased the required percentage of biofuel in gasoline On February 27, 2008, the German Parliament enacted the Act Concerning Energy-Using Products (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 258), which transposes into German law the European Union's Eco-Design Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and the A major reform of the German laws governing insurance contracts was enacted on November 23, 2007 (Gesetz zur Reform des Versicherungsvertragsrechts, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2631). It aims primarily at increasing consumer rights and providing more transparency On December 12, 2007, the President of Germany promulgated the Act to Finance the Termination of Subsidized Coal Mining by 2018 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3086). The Act is the result of an agreement between the German On November 23, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Protecting Against the Endangerment of German Security Through the Proliferation of High Resolution Aerial Imagery of the Earth (Satellitendatensicherheitsgesetz, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2590). The entire Act became effective... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540266_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Online Searches of Personal Computershttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540267_text
Communications - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April On April 4, 2008, Sigmar Gabriel, the Federal Environmental Minister of Germany, withdrew a controversial draft regulation that contained strict sustainability criteria for biofuels and that would have increased the required percentage of biofuel in gasoline On February 27, 2008, the German Parliament enacted the Act Concerning Energy-Using Products (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 258), which transposes into German law the European Union's Eco-Design Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and the A major reform of the German laws governing insurance contracts was enacted on November 23, 2007 (Gesetz zur Reform des Versicherungsvertragsrechts, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2631). It aims primarily at increasing consumer rights and providing more transparency On December 12, 2007, the President of Germany promulgated the Act to Finance the Termination of Subsidized Coal Mining by 2018 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3086). The Act is the result of an agreement between the German On November 23, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Protecting Against the Endangerment of German Security Through the Proliferation of High Resolution Aerial Imagery of the Earth (Satellitendatensicherheitsgesetz, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2590). The entire Act became effective On February 27, 2008, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany issued a decision on online searches of personal computers by the intelligence agencies (Docket No. 1 BvR 595/07, Federal Constitutional Court official Web site. The decision... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540267_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Sentencinghttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540210_text
Crime and law enforcement - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April On April 4, 2008, Sigmar Gabriel, the Federal Environmental Minister of Germany, withdrew a controversial draft regulation that contained strict sustainability criteria for biofuels and that would have increased the required percentage of biofuel in gasoline On February 27, 2008, the German Parliament enacted the Act Concerning Energy-Using Products (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 258), which transposes into German law the European Union's Eco-Design Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and the A major reform of the German laws governing insurance contracts was enacted on November 23, 2007 (Gesetz zur Reform des Versicherungsvertragsrechts, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2631). It aims primarily at increasing consumer rights and providing more transparency On December 12, 2007, the President of Germany promulgated the Act to Finance the Termination of Subsidized Coal Mining by 2018 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3086). The Act is the result of an agreement between the German On November 23, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Protecting Against the Endangerment of German Security Through the Proliferation of High Resolution Aerial Imagery of the Earth (Satellitendatensicherheitsgesetz, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2590). The entire Act became effective On February 27, 2008, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany issued a decision on online searches of personal computers by the intelligence agencies (Docket No. 1 BvR 595/07, Federal Constitutional Court official Web site. The decision On August 23, 2007, the Third Criminal Panel of the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) proposed a sentencing decision to the Court's Great Panel for Criminal Matters, a procedure that is employed when a decision... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540210_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Unemployment Compensationhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540220_text
Labor - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April On April 4, 2008, Sigmar Gabriel, the Federal Environmental Minister of Germany, withdrew a controversial draft regulation that contained strict sustainability criteria for biofuels and that would have increased the required percentage of biofuel in gasoline On February 27, 2008, the German Parliament enacted the Act Concerning Energy-Using Products (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 258), which transposes into German law the European Union's Eco-Design Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and the A major reform of the German laws governing insurance contracts was enacted on November 23, 2007 (Gesetz zur Reform des Versicherungsvertragsrechts, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2631). It aims primarily at increasing consumer rights and providing more transparency On December 12, 2007, the President of Germany promulgated the Act to Finance the Termination of Subsidized Coal Mining by 2018 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3086). The Act is the result of an agreement between the German On November 23, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Protecting Against the Endangerment of German Security Through the Proliferation of High Resolution Aerial Imagery of the Earth (Satellitendatensicherheitsgesetz, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2590). The entire Act became effective On February 27, 2008, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany issued a decision on online searches of personal computers by the intelligence agencies (Docket No. 1 BvR 595/07, Federal Constitutional Court official Web site. The decision On August 23, 2007, the Third Criminal Panel of the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) proposed a sentencing decision to the Court's Great Panel for Criminal Matters, a procedure that is employed when a decision On December 22, 2007, Germany's legislature enacted the Amending Law to Title 3 of the Social Code (Sechstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Dritten Buches Sozialgesetzbuch, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3245), which reduces unemployment compensation from 4.2 percent... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540220_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Telecommunications Surveillancehttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205407_text
Communications - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April On April 4, 2008, Sigmar Gabriel, the Federal Environmental Minister of Germany, withdrew a controversial draft regulation that contained strict sustainability criteria for biofuels and that would have increased the required percentage of biofuel in gasoline On February 27, 2008, the German Parliament enacted the Act Concerning Energy-Using Products (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 258), which transposes into German law the European Union's Eco-Design Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and the A major reform of the German laws governing insurance contracts was enacted on November 23, 2007 (Gesetz zur Reform des Versicherungsvertragsrechts, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2631). It aims primarily at increasing consumer rights and providing more transparency On December 12, 2007, the President of Germany promulgated the Act to Finance the Termination of Subsidized Coal Mining by 2018 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3086). The Act is the result of an agreement between the German On November 23, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Protecting Against the Endangerment of German Security Through the Proliferation of High Resolution Aerial Imagery of the Earth (Satellitendatensicherheitsgesetz, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2590). The entire Act became effective On February 27, 2008, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany issued a decision on online searches of personal computers by the intelligence agencies (Docket No. 1 BvR 595/07, Federal Constitutional Court official Web site. The decision On August 23, 2007, the Third Criminal Panel of the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) proposed a sentencing decision to the Court's Great Panel for Criminal Matters, a procedure that is employed when a decision On December 22, 2007, Germany's legislature enacted the Amending Law to Title 3 of the Social Code (Sechstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Dritten Buches Sozialgesetzbuch, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3245), which reduces unemployment compensation from 4.2 percent On December 31, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Reforming Telecommunications Surveillance and Other Covert Investigative Measures and Transposing Directive 2006/24/EC (Gesetz zur Neuerung der Telekommunikationsuberwachung und anderer verdeckter Ermittlungsarten sowie zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie 2006/24/EG, BUNDESGESETZBLATT... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Wed, 02 Jan 2008 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205407_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Terrorismhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l2054045_text
Terrorism - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April On April 4, 2008, Sigmar Gabriel, the Federal Environmental Minister of Germany, withdrew a controversial draft regulation that contained strict sustainability criteria for biofuels and that would have increased the required percentage of biofuel in gasoline On February 27, 2008, the German Parliament enacted the Act Concerning Energy-Using Products (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 258), which transposes into German law the European Union's Eco-Design Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and the A major reform of the German laws governing insurance contracts was enacted on November 23, 2007 (Gesetz zur Reform des Versicherungsvertragsrechts, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2631). It aims primarily at increasing consumer rights and providing more transparency On December 12, 2007, the President of Germany promulgated the Act to Finance the Termination of Subsidized Coal Mining by 2018 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3086). The Act is the result of an agreement between the German On November 23, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Protecting Against the Endangerment of German Security Through the Proliferation of High Resolution Aerial Imagery of the Earth (Satellitendatensicherheitsgesetz, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2590). The entire Act became effective On February 27, 2008, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany issued a decision on online searches of personal computers by the intelligence agencies (Docket No. 1 BvR 595/07, Federal Constitutional Court official Web site. The decision On August 23, 2007, the Third Criminal Panel of the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) proposed a sentencing decision to the Court's Great Panel for Criminal Matters, a procedure that is employed when a decision On December 22, 2007, Germany's legislature enacted the Amending Law to Title 3 of the Social Code (Sechstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Dritten Buches Sozialgesetzbuch, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3245), which reduces unemployment compensation from 4.2 percent On December 31, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Reforming Telecommunications Surveillance and Other Covert Investigative Measures and Transposing Directive 2006/24/EC (Gesetz zur Neuerung der Telekommunikationsuberwachung und anderer verdeckter Ermittlungsarten sowie zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie 2006/24/EG, BUNDESGESETZBLATT On December 5, 2007, the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) of Dusseldorf convicted a citizen of Syria and two nationals of Palestine of membership in a terrorist organization and attempted insurance fraud (unpublished trial court decision, as... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Wed, 02 Jan 2008 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l2054045_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Continuing Detention of Sex Offenderhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l2054063_text
Crime and law enforcement - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April On April 4, 2008, Sigmar Gabriel, the Federal Environmental Minister of Germany, withdrew a controversial draft regulation that contained strict sustainability criteria for biofuels and that would have increased the required percentage of biofuel in gasoline On February 27, 2008, the German Parliament enacted the Act Concerning Energy-Using Products (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 258), which transposes into German law the European Union's Eco-Design Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and the A major reform of the German laws governing insurance contracts was enacted on November 23, 2007 (Gesetz zur Reform des Versicherungsvertragsrechts, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2631). It aims primarily at increasing consumer rights and providing more transparency On December 12, 2007, the President of Germany promulgated the Act to Finance the Termination of Subsidized Coal Mining by 2018 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3086). The Act is the result of an agreement between the German On November 23, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Protecting Against the Endangerment of German Security Through the Proliferation of High Resolution Aerial Imagery of the Earth (Satellitendatensicherheitsgesetz, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2590). The entire Act became effective On February 27, 2008, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany issued a decision on online searches of personal computers by the intelligence agencies (Docket No. 1 BvR 595/07, Federal Constitutional Court official Web site. The decision On August 23, 2007, the Third Criminal Panel of the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) proposed a sentencing decision to the Court's Great Panel for Criminal Matters, a procedure that is employed when a decision On December 22, 2007, Germany's legislature enacted the Amending Law to Title 3 of the Social Code (Sechstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Dritten Buches Sozialgesetzbuch, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3245), which reduces unemployment compensation from 4.2 percent On December 31, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Reforming Telecommunications Surveillance and Other Covert Investigative Measures and Transposing Directive 2006/24/EC (Gesetz zur Neuerung der Telekommunikationsuberwachung und anderer verdeckter Ermittlungsarten sowie zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie 2006/24/EG, BUNDESGESETZBLATT On December 5, 2007, the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) of Dusseldorf convicted a citizen of Syria and two nationals of Palestine of membership in a terrorist organization and attempted insurance fraud (unpublished trial court decision, as On October 19, 2007, the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) (FCJ) of Germany issued a decision that led to the release of a still dangerous sex offender after he had served his prison sentence (Docket No.... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l2054063_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Undercover Agents and Self-Incriminationhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l2054064_text
Crime and law enforcement - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April On April 4, 2008, Sigmar Gabriel, the Federal Environmental Minister of Germany, withdrew a controversial draft regulation that contained strict sustainability criteria for biofuels and that would have increased the required percentage of biofuel in gasoline On February 27, 2008, the German Parliament enacted the Act Concerning Energy-Using Products (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 258), which transposes into German law the European Union's Eco-Design Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and the A major reform of the German laws governing insurance contracts was enacted on November 23, 2007 (Gesetz zur Reform des Versicherungsvertragsrechts, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2631). It aims primarily at increasing consumer rights and providing more transparency On December 12, 2007, the President of Germany promulgated the Act to Finance the Termination of Subsidized Coal Mining by 2018 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3086). The Act is the result of an agreement between the German On November 23, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Protecting Against the Endangerment of German Security Through the Proliferation of High Resolution Aerial Imagery of the Earth (Satellitendatensicherheitsgesetz, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2590). The entire Act became effective On February 27, 2008, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany issued a decision on online searches of personal computers by the intelligence agencies (Docket No. 1 BvR 595/07, Federal Constitutional Court official Web site. The decision On August 23, 2007, the Third Criminal Panel of the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) proposed a sentencing decision to the Court's Great Panel for Criminal Matters, a procedure that is employed when a decision On December 22, 2007, Germany's legislature enacted the Amending Law to Title 3 of the Social Code (Sechstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Dritten Buches Sozialgesetzbuch, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3245), which reduces unemployment compensation from 4.2 percent On December 31, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Reforming Telecommunications Surveillance and Other Covert Investigative Measures and Transposing Directive 2006/24/EC (Gesetz zur Neuerung der Telekommunikationsuberwachung und anderer verdeckter Ermittlungsarten sowie zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie 2006/24/EG, BUNDESGESETZBLATT On December 5, 2007, the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) of Dusseldorf convicted a citizen of Syria and two nationals of Palestine of membership in a terrorist organization and attempted insurance fraud (unpublished trial court decision, as On October 19, 2007, the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) (FCJ) of Germany issued a decision that led to the release of a still dangerous sex offender after he had served his prison sentence (Docket No. On July 26, 2007, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) (FCJ) held that an undercover agent may not persistently urge a suspect to confide in him as to whether he committed a crime and may... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l2054064_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Internet Bankinghttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540121_text
Banks and financial institutions - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April On April 4, 2008, Sigmar Gabriel, the Federal Environmental Minister of Germany, withdrew a controversial draft regulation that contained strict sustainability criteria for biofuels and that would have increased the required percentage of biofuel in gasoline On February 27, 2008, the German Parliament enacted the Act Concerning Energy-Using Products (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 258), which transposes into German law the European Union's Eco-Design Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and the A major reform of the German laws governing insurance contracts was enacted on November 23, 2007 (Gesetz zur Reform des Versicherungsvertragsrechts, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2631). It aims primarily at increasing consumer rights and providing more transparency On December 12, 2007, the President of Germany promulgated the Act to Finance the Termination of Subsidized Coal Mining by 2018 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3086). The Act is the result of an agreement between the German On November 23, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Protecting Against the Endangerment of German Security Through the Proliferation of High Resolution Aerial Imagery of the Earth (Satellitendatensicherheitsgesetz, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2590). The entire Act became effective On February 27, 2008, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany issued a decision on online searches of personal computers by the intelligence agencies (Docket No. 1 BvR 595/07, Federal Constitutional Court official Web site. The decision On August 23, 2007, the Third Criminal Panel of the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) proposed a sentencing decision to the Court's Great Panel for Criminal Matters, a procedure that is employed when a decision On December 22, 2007, Germany's legislature enacted the Amending Law to Title 3 of the Social Code (Sechstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Dritten Buches Sozialgesetzbuch, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3245), which reduces unemployment compensation from 4.2 percent On December 31, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Reforming Telecommunications Surveillance and Other Covert Investigative Measures and Transposing Directive 2006/24/EC (Gesetz zur Neuerung der Telekommunikationsuberwachung und anderer verdeckter Ermittlungsarten sowie zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie 2006/24/EG, BUNDESGESETZBLATT On December 5, 2007, the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) of Dusseldorf convicted a citizen of Syria and two nationals of Palestine of membership in a terrorist organization and attempted insurance fraud (unpublished trial court decision, as On October 19, 2007, the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) (FCJ) of Germany issued a decision that led to the release of a still dangerous sex offender after he had served his prison sentence (Docket No. On July 26, 2007, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) (FCJ) held that an undercover agent may not persistently urge a suspect to confide in him as to whether he committed a crime and may On July 5, 2007, the Administrative Court of Frankfurt am Main upheld an administrative decision of the German Banking Supervisory Agency (Bundesanstalt fur Finanzdienst-leistungsaufsicht) that forbade a Swiss provider of consumer loans to engage in loan... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Fri, 02 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540121_textGlobal Legal Monitor: Germany: Transposition of EU Directives on Immigration and Asylumhttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540174_text
Immigration and nationality - The Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house of Germany's parliament, has passed amendments to the country's Asylum Procedure Act that will deny as "unfounded" applications of asylum seekers from the western Balkan states of Serbia, Macedonia, On September 12, 2014, Germany's Ministry of Interior issued a ban on support for the Islamic State (IS) that took immediate effect. (Kimberly Bennett, Germany Passes Bill Banning Support of Islamic State, PAPER CHASE (Sept. On August 18, 2014, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a draft of a new Cybersecurity Act. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Erhhung der Sicherheit informationstechnischer Systeme (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz), Federal Ministry of the Interior website On July 3, 2014, the Bundestag (German parliament) approved by a large majority legislation introducing a minimum wage in Germany and ending a decade-long debate in the country on the subject. Starting in 2015, Germany will On February 6, 2013, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held that a child has the right to obtain information on the identity of the anonymous sperm donor through whom the child was conceived (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 25, 2013, Germany promulgated an Act Improving the Rights of Patients [hereinafter Patients' Rights Act]. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten,Bundesgesetzblatt [BGBl] I at 277.) The Act creates the "treatment More than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the wrongdoings of the Staatssicherheitsdienst, the East German secret police agency commonly known as Stasi, continue to be uncovered through research in the files of According to a decision handed down by the Cologne regional court (Landgericht Kln) on June 26, 2012, circumcision of young boys is a criminal act, prohibited by law, even if parents have consented to the procedure. On January 18, 2012, the Federal Cabinet submitted a draft law to the German Parliament that proposes the creation of a database on right-wing extremists (Gesetzesentwurf der Bundesregierung, Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz, Bundesrat Drucksache 31/12 (Jan. 20, 2012), On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case In Germany, dangerous criminals may be kept under detention after they have served their prison sentences, if there is reason to fear that they would commit further offenses after being released. This type of preventive detention On May 4, 2011, the trial of two men from Rwanda accused of ordering others to carry out massacres and multiple rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) got underway in Stuttgart, Germany. The Despite strong opposition, on November 26, 2010, the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved a bill amending the Atomic Energy Act to extend by an average of 12 years the lifespan of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. On October 1, 2010, Germany paid off the last residual interest payments of the bond issues through which the Dawes and Young plans were privatized, thereby making its last payments on reparations imposed after World War The 68th German Convention of Jurists was held in Berlin on September 21 24 (Deutscher Juristentag (Sept. 24, 2010), http://www.djt.de/). One of the topics of the Convention was "Church-State Relations in an Era On September 8, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) issued a decision that balanced freedom of speech against commercial interests. The case involved a multinational dairy-producing company that used, in some of its products, milk On August 11, 2010, Germany amended the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Erstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1170, amending Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, Oct. 25, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2074, updated version available at On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On July 6, 2010, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a decision that permits pre-implantation testing to screen for serious genetic defects (Docket No. 5 StR 386/09, http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bghandamp;Art=pmandamp;Datum=2010andamp;Sort=3andamp;anz=160andamp;pos=23andamp;nr=52897andamp;linked=urtandamp;Blank=1andamp;file=dokument.pdf). The decision interprets section 1(1) On July 21, 2010, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC, Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a decision that strengthened the rights of fathers of out-of-wedlock children (Docket No. 1 BvR 420/09 (July 21, 2010), available at http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rs20100721_1bvr042009.html). The decision The Second Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ), Germany's highest civil court, ruled on June 25, 2010, that in certain cases it is not a criminal offense to terminate the life support system On May 7, 2010, Germany's President signed into law the Act on the Providing of Loan Guarantees to Support the Solvency of the Hellenic Republic Required to Maintain Financial Stability Within the Currency Union (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I On November 11, 2009, the German Federal Minister for Labor and Social Issues promulgated the 2010 contribution rate for the statutory old-age pension system. (Bekanntmachung der Beitragssatze in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung und der knappschaftlichen Rentenversicherung fur In a ruling issued on November 4, 2009, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (CC) upheld legislation against incitement to hatred that bans public support and justification of the country's former Nazi regime. The recent decision was based On July 30, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the government intelligence service (BND) may not withhold information from the legislature, unless there is a good cause presented in a detailed explanation. (Federal On July 10, 2009, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) approved a bill enabling the creation of "bad banks" to help the country's commercial and state-owned banks recover from the domestic and global On June 25, 2009, the European Commission accused Germany of violating the EU Treaty in three cases. Proceedings that may end up in the European Court of Justice have been initiated; depending on the outcome, Germany On January 1, 2009, a Worker Migration Control Act (Gesetz zur arbeitsmarktadequaten Steuerung der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und zur Anderung weiterer aufenthaltsrechtlicher Regelungen (Arbeitsmigrationssteuerungsgesetz), Dec. 20, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl] I at 2846) became effective, making it easier As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] On March 3, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a decision that may prevent the use of electronic voting machines in future German elections. (Bundesverfassungsgericht, Docket Nos. 2 BvC 3/07 andamp; 2 BvC 4/07, http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/cs20090303_2bvc000On October 17, 2008, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Act Creating a Financial Markets Stabilization Fund that became effective on October 18, 2008 (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds (Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) I at 1982, On July 7, 2008, the German legislature adopted the Act on Improving the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (Gesetz, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2008 I at 1191), which transposes the European Union Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC of the The Act for the Establishment of Paternity Without a Proceeding to Contest Paternity, enacted on March 28, 2008 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT (BGBL, official law gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany) I at 441), became effective on April On April 4, 2008, Sigmar Gabriel, the Federal Environmental Minister of Germany, withdrew a controversial draft regulation that contained strict sustainability criteria for biofuels and that would have increased the required percentage of biofuel in gasoline On February 27, 2008, the German Parliament enacted the Act Concerning Energy-Using Products (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 258), which transposes into German law the European Union's Eco-Design Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and the A major reform of the German laws governing insurance contracts was enacted on November 23, 2007 (Gesetz zur Reform des Versicherungsvertragsrechts, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2631). It aims primarily at increasing consumer rights and providing more transparency On December 12, 2007, the President of Germany promulgated the Act to Finance the Termination of Subsidized Coal Mining by 2018 (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3086). The Act is the result of an agreement between the German On November 23, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Protecting Against the Endangerment of German Security Through the Proliferation of High Resolution Aerial Imagery of the Earth (Satellitendatensicherheitsgesetz, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 2590). The entire Act became effective On February 27, 2008, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany issued a decision on online searches of personal computers by the intelligence agencies (Docket No. 1 BvR 595/07, Federal Constitutional Court official Web site. The decision On August 23, 2007, the Third Criminal Panel of the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) proposed a sentencing decision to the Court's Great Panel for Criminal Matters, a procedure that is employed when a decision On December 22, 2007, Germany's legislature enacted the Amending Law to Title 3 of the Social Code (Sechstes Gesetz zur Anderung des Dritten Buches Sozialgesetzbuch, BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 3245), which reduces unemployment compensation from 4.2 percent On December 31, 2007, Germany promulgated the Act Reforming Telecommunications Surveillance and Other Covert Investigative Measures and Transposing Directive 2006/24/EC (Gesetz zur Neuerung der Telekommunikationsuberwachung und anderer verdeckter Ermittlungsarten sowie zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie 2006/24/EG, BUNDESGESETZBLATT On December 5, 2007, the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) of Dusseldorf convicted a citizen of Syria and two nationals of Palestine of membership in a terrorist organization and attempted insurance fraud (unpublished trial court decision, as On October 19, 2007, the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) (FCJ) of Germany issued a decision that led to the release of a still dangerous sex offender after he had served his prison sentence (Docket No. On July 26, 2007, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) (FCJ) held that an undercover agent may not persistently urge a suspect to confide in him as to whether he committed a crime and may On July 5, 2007, the Administrative Court of Frankfurt am Main upheld an administrative decision of the German Banking Supervisory Agency (Bundesanstalt fur Finanzdienst-leistungsaufsicht) that forbade a Swiss provider of consumer loans to engage in loan On August 19, 2007, the German Parliament enacted the Act to Transpose European Union Directives on Immigration and Asylum (BUNDESGESETZBLATT I at 1970). The Act transposes 11 European Union directives into domestic law, among them the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide.Fri, 02 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EDThttp://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540174_text